CLOSED—Collaborative Modeling in Software Engineering: Call for Papers

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Submission deadline: 1 Dec. 2017

Publication: Nov./Dec. 2018

Modeling is central to any software development effort. Sometimes, modeling is more formal, with detailed representations developed in highly featured modeling environments. Other times, modeling is much more informal, involving whiteboard sketching or working through an architectural decision through some pseudocode. Either way, modeling is usually highly collaborative: multiple developers work together to create, analyze, and understand a model capturing some aspect of the software on which they’re working.

Collaborative modeling has long been a relevant topic but is particularly timely today. Besides long-established collaborative-modeling practices, tools, and approaches, we’re witnessing the emergence of many Web 3.0 collaborative-modeling environments. Anyone can start a collaborative-modeling session nearly instantly with tools such as GenMyModel, emfCollab, WebGME, or Visual Paradigm. In concert, we’re also witnessing the emergence of projects such as Dawn Eclipse, the Morsa collaborative model repository, the Modeling Team Framework under the Eclipse Modeling Framework Technology Project, and UNICASE. Clearly, a need exists that hasn’t been met yet.

In this context, the theme issue seeks to shed light on these main questions:

  • What’s the state of practice in collaborative modeling in industry?
  • What do we know about collaborative modeling as a human activity?
  • What’s the state of the art in collaborative-modeling tools, methods, and techniques?
  • What factors make particular modeling languages more suitable than others for collaborative modeling?
  • What’s the role of model-driven engineering in support of collaborative modeling?
  • How can we best combine collaborative modeling’s components—model management, collaboration, and communication—to provide holistic support for collaborative modeling?
  • What modeling approaches function over organizational boundaries and in software ecosystem contexts?
  • What open questions remain toward a future of more fluid and effective collaborative-modeling experiences?

Topics of interest include but aren’t limited to

  • collaborative-modeling tools, methods, frameworks, or techniques;
  • collaborative decision making;
  • web-based collaborative modeling;
  • collaborative modeling at different scales;
  • collaborative modeling in requirements engineering or software architecture;
  • collaborative modeling in low-level design;
  • languages or repositories for collaborative modeling;
  • model-driven-engineering support for collaborative modeling;
  • model synchronization—comparison, merge, and review;
  • conflict management in collaborative modeling;
  • empirical studies of collaborative modeling;
  • experience reports on collaborative modeling;
  • lessons learned in industry—successes and failures;
  • requirements for or needs in collaborative modeling;
  • formal collaborative modeling (languages and tools);
  • informal collaborative modeling (whiteboard design and sketching tools);
  • collaborative modeling across cultures and regions;
  • collaborative modeling’s role in the software process;
  • collaboration and model-driven or model-based engineering;
  • surveys of existing approaches and techniques; and
  • perspectives on future collaborative modeling.

Guest Editors

Submission Guidelines

Manuscripts must not exceed 3,000 words including figures and tables, which count for 250 words each. Submissions exceeding these limits might be rejected without refereeing. Articles deemed within the theme and scope will be peer reviewed and are subject to editing for magazine style, clarity, organization, and space. We reserve the right to edit the title of all submissions. Be sure to include the name of the theme issue for which you’re submitting.

Articles should have a practical orientation and be written in a style accessible to practitioners. Overly complex, purely research-oriented or theoretical treatments aren’t appropriate. Articles should be novel. IEEE Software doesn’t republish material published previously in other venues, including other periodicals and formal conference or workshop proceedings, whether previous publication was in print or electronic form.

For general author guidelines: www.computer.org/software/author.htm

For submission details: software@computer.org

To submit an article: mc.manuscriptcentral.com/sw-cs